1. Field of the Invention
A method is provided for developing a point on one end of an extruded plastic vehicle molding, the molding having two longitudinally extending portions of different colors.
2. Prior Art
Molding strips which are frequently both decorative and protective are used on exterior surfaces of vehicles. Designers often want the strips to terminate in pointed ends for aesthetic purposes. The moldings are normally fabricated as extruded plastic elements having a uniform transverse cross-section. This results in molding strips which have what might be referred to as square ends. If material is merely cut from an end to result in a point, the molding has an unfinished appearance which is objectionable from a design point of view.
One technique that has been used in the past to provide pointed ends on moldings has been to remove a V-shaped notch or wedge from the end of the molding with subsequent pressing of the remaining end pieces together and heat sealing them to each other. This has resulted in at least providing exterior surface portions of the pointed ends which have the finished appearance desired. Examples of this technique are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,959,538, Loew; 3,961,972, Hotton; 3,970,498, Loew; and 4,174,986, Jennings. Another technique for providing a pointed end on such moldings has been to injection mold an end cap and attach it to the end of the molding by heat sealing. This technique is shown, in for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,209, Ives.
In accordance with the present invention, a wedge shaped section is removed from the end of the molding in a manner similar to that which has been proposed in the past. However, rather than heat sealing the end pieces together, additional material is removed from the end and the entire end of the molding is placed in an injection mold with the end being filled with new material. This results in a superior finished appearance and also provides better bonding of the end pieces so that they will not separate in use of the molding.